The Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) has selected nine new projects from its recent call for proposals for applied research projects to generate and mobilize evidence to contextualize and scale the impact of promising or proven innovative approaches to strengthen inclusive early learning and school readiness in GPE partner countries.
Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is essential because it equips children during a key phase of their lives with the cognitive, motor and social-emotional skills they need to lay the groundwork for lifelong learning and success. A comprehensive systems approach that aligns curriculum development, developmentally appropriate pedagogy, teacher training and support, and community engagement is critical. Our recent scoping study shows that equity-oriented early childhood education programs that specifically target children who are marginalized, displaced, and with disabilities have the potential to promote holistic child development and a love for learning. The study further revealed that GPE partner countries are seeking evidence to help them adopt and sustain inclusive early learning programs that promote a smooth transition to primary school.
The selected projects focus on two core issues in early childhood care and education for children aged three to eight years:
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inclusive early learning pedagogies
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foundational skills for a smooth transition to primary school
The research will explore effective strategies to adapt, scale, and implement promising or proven innovations in effective, equitable, and sustainable ways. It will also aim to identify what factors enable, incentivize, or impede the scaling of these innovations.
More information on each of these exciting new projects can be found below, with additional updates on their activities to follow:
- Adapting and Scaling Early Learning Outcomes Assessments in the West and Central African Region
- Better inclusive early learning and development at scale (BIELDS)
- Bridging Gaps and Scaling Up a School Readiness Program in Bangladesh, Nepal and Tanzania
- Scaling a learning through play model for early childhood education in El Salvador
- Scaling Impact of a Play-Based, Child to Child Approach to Make Pre-School to Primary School Transition Fun and Inclusive
- Scaling Inclusive Home-based Early Learning Initiative (SIHELI)
- Gender inclusive pedagogy for community-level early childhood education in Guatemala and Honduras
- Scaling inclusive ECCE and school readiness through sign language rich environments for deaf learners
- The impact of culturally responsive teaching practices on social and emotional development in diverse early childhood classrooms in Ghana
